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UCSD SIO 217A - Lecture

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The importance of moisture for understanding atmospheric motionsWhy clouds and vapor are fundamentalHow to correct for vapor in the equation of stateA first* look at atmospheric stability and buoyancy*ignoring cloudsMike PritchardMonday, November 7, 2011Planetary energy transport Energy in Energy out Energy out Transfer` Transfer` http://www.physicalgeography.net/fundamentals/6h.html Under differential solar forcing, planet Earth must transport lots of energy poleward & upward via its fluids.(sun warming surface)Atmosphere emitting radiation (cooling) to spaceEnergy transferupwardEnergy inEnergy outMonday, November 7, 2011Transfer` Nature finds efficient ways to do energy transfer.Atmospheric phase changes of water are effective.Monday, November 7, 2011(Satellite reconstruction of condensed water)We see this play out in patterns of condensed water (clouds).Midlatitudes: Baroclinic cyclones* doing lots of poleward energy transportTropics: Massive deep convection doing lots of vertical energy transport*comma shaped featuresMonday, November 7, 2011And in patterns of water vapor.Monday, November 7, 2011Clouds will be dealt with in many later lecturesThe physics are complex, cover a vast scale rangeToday we’ll talk about an unsaturated (cloud-free) moist atmosphere. Just the vapor part.Monday, November 7, 2011It’s important to measure the vapor.There are several common metrics•Specific humidity•Vapor mixing ratio•Relative humidity•Know them all and how to switch between.•See whiteboard notes.Monday, November 7, 2011Vapor must be tracked independently in the equation of state.•Other gases lumped together since they’re similarly homogenous in space/time.•Think of the “moist air” equation of state as governing a binary mixture of:•1) water vapor ideal gas.•2) the rest (a.k.a. “dry air”) ideal gas.•Idea encapsulated counter-intuitively in the concept of “virtual” temperature. Monday, November 7, 2011Virtual temperature•Def: The temperature moist air would have to be raised to in order for its state to be described with a dry air gas constant.•A mathematical sleight of hand that makes the temperature, rather than the gas constant, appear to be the moisture dependent quantity.•This way we only have to remember one specific gas constant, R = Rd = 287 J/K/kg•See whiteboard notesMonday, November 7, 2011•rest is on the whiteboard.Monday, November 7,


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UCSD SIO 217A - Lecture

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